NCAA Regional Baseball: Central Arkansas beats Mississippi State 5-2

STARKVILLE — Ethan McKinzie threw a complete game four-hitter in just his third start of the season to lead Central Arkansas over Mississippi State for a 5-2 victory at an NCAA regional on Sunday night.

Central Arkansas (42-21) forced a winner-take-all rematch on Monday for the Starkville Regional title. Teams will meet at 7:05 p.m.

McKinzie (4-2) threw 128 pitches and scattered five walks.

Mississippi State (45-18) tied the game at 2-2 in the sixth on Sam Frost’s run-scoring single, but Central Arkansas responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Justin Treece had the big hit with a 2-run double that short-hopped the wall in left field.

Mississippi State made four errors. Myles Gentry (4-1) took the loss, giving up three runs in 3 1-3 innings of relief.